--- title: National Enrolment System (NES) - Qualified Encounter Date slug: portal-sub/national-enrolment-system-nes-qualified-encounter-date docTags: createdAt: 2026-03-04T12:03:18.963Z --- # Overview & Requirements This article is intended for New Zealand GP’s who use the National Enrolment System (NES) integration in Profile for Windows to send to and receive data from the Ministry of Health.  A key requirement to keep a patient on the practice’s enrolment register (and receive funding for them) is that that they have had a “qualified encounter” with that patient within the last 3 years. When that occurs, it needs to be recorded in Profile and sent to the Ministry of Health.  The logic of when a qualified encounter date is sent to the Ministry of Health has now been made more explicit and flexible, giving you control over it.  This article explains how it works and how to make sure only valid qualified encounter data is sent. ## Requirements - The National Enrolment System is set-up - Profile version 9.0.5 and above - In **Preferences/Patient/Other**, the **Update Date Last Contact **field is set to **When Encounter is created using 'Qualified Encounter' contact type** ::Image[]{src="https://api.qa.archbee.co/api/optimize/zICxj0dnLereb6UUrBA3-/TA9-tY7xoyUssxKYPXERC_xo5zliqnnjxtoccaoljdavb3kucqdh-iq.png" size="100" isUploading="false" initialPath="assets/Xo5zl_iQnnjXtOccaoLJdavB3kuCqDh-IQ.png" githubPath="en/Patient Records and Management/Patient Records - New Zealand/assets/Xo5zl_iQnnjXtOccaoLJdavB3kuCqDh-IQ.png" position="flex-start" showCaption="false" indent="2"} :::hint{type="info"} This preference should be set automatically upon upgrade to Profile 9.0.5 if the organisation is a New Zealand GP. ::: # Qualified Encounters ## Definition A qualified encounter can be defined as follows: - A face-to-face, telephone, or other electronic contact between an Enrolled Person and a Health Practitioner constitutes a “qualified encounter” if it includes a clinical component and/or advice. - Every qualified encounter should have associated encounter notes. ## Qualified Encounter Date Profile for Windows uses the **Date of Last Contact **field found in **Alter Patient/Organisation **to determine when qualified encounter data will be sent to the Ministry of Health as part of the National Enrolment System. The data will be sent to the Ministry of Health every time this field is updated. ::Image[]{src="https://api.qa.archbee.co/api/optimize/zICxj0dnLereb6UUrBA3-/ZvOPjmKNKfa6le8HelPuw_j3ecvaf4f5d8vmne72abnipjmn0iggmbw.png" size="74" isUploading="false" initialPath="assets/j3ECVAF4f5d8VMN_E72AbNipJmn0igGmBw.png" githubPath="en/Patient Records and Management/Patient Records - New Zealand/assets/j3ECVAF4f5d8VMN_E72AbNipJmn0igGmBw.png" position="flex-start" showCaption="false"} This field will be automatically updated only when a patient has had a contact that is classified as a qualified encounter. ## Encounters Workflow When creating an encounter, you can determine if it will be considered a qualified encounter or not by selecting the appropriate contact type, found at the top-right corner of the New Encounter screen. - If the Contact Type has the letters **(QA)** appended to its description, then it will be treated as a qualified encounter. When the contact is created, the **Date Last Contact** field in Alter Patient will automatically be updated to the same as the encounter, and sent to the Ministry of Health as a Qualified Encounter Date. ::Image[]{src="https://api.qa.archbee.co/api/optimize/zICxj0dnLereb6UUrBA3-/oBW2tKgwNuiKAAenxQ9pC_gc-b4rnx7rgctsmwrhuhttylkepwc15ha.png" size="100" isUploading="false" initialPath="assets/-GC-B4RNx7rGCtSMWrhuhTtYLkePWC15HA.png" githubPath="en/Patient Records and Management/Patient Records - New Zealand/assets/-GC-B4RNx7rGCtSMWrhuhTtYLkePWC15HA.png" position="flex-start" showCaption="false" indent="2"} - If the Contact type does not have (QA) appended to its description, then it will not be treated as a qualified encounter. The **Date Last Contact** field in Alter Patient will not change, and nothing will be sent to the Ministry of Health. :::hint{type="info"} Depending on your setup and workflow, creating a new encounter may automatically populate as a specific Contact type, but you can select a different one if appropriate. ::: ## How to add or remove a contact type as a Qualified Encounter Any Encounter Type Code that has the **Qualified Encounter **checkbox ticked in **Short Codes **will be set as a qualified encounter. Upon upgrade to Profile 9.0.5, all encounter types which previously had the **Face to face **checkbox ticked will be classified as a qualified encounter. However, this can be freely customised. This checkbox can be changed through the following steps: 1. Go to **Maintain/Short Codes** 2. Open **Contacts **- the **Qualified Encounter **column will be ticked for all contact types already set as Qualified Encounters. ::Image[]{src="https://api.qa.archbee.co/api/optimize/zICxj0dnLereb6UUrBA3-/dz15x5QUOH0RX2Lq5gCYB_gc8o7matkexeidvpnkaocicjxsm-qbv5w.png" size="100" isUploading="false" initialPath="assets/gC8O7MatKexeiDVPN_kAOCicJXsm-QBV5w.png" githubPath="en/Patient Records and Management/Patient Records - New Zealand/assets/gC8O7MatKexeiDVPN_kAOCicJXsm-QBV5w.png" position="flex-start" showCaption="false" indent="2"} 3. Select the short code you wish to edit. 4. Tick/untick the **Qualified Encounter **checkbox as appropriate.  ::Image[]{src="https://api.qa.archbee.co/api/optimize/zICxj0dnLereb6UUrBA3-/-aJF7I4pH6JW2TiFs3D4B_p6ee4vtp-hcquwtso2uiuckpxgjncconw.png" size="100" isUploading="false" initialPath="assets/P6Ee4VtP-hcQUwTsO2UiUCK_PXgJnCconw.png" githubPath="en/Patient Records and Management/Patient Records - New Zealand/assets/P6Ee4VtP-hcQUwTsO2UiUCK_PXgJnCconw.png" position="flex-start" showCaption="false" indent="2"} 5. Press **OK** to save changes. :::hint{type="info"} The **Qualified Encounter **checkbox will only appear in Contacts Short Code if the **Update Date Last Contact **field in **Preferences/Patient/Other **is set to **When Encounter is created using 'Qualified Encounter' contact type**. ::: ## Automatically Created Encounters Some encounters are created automatically when performing certain actions, for example, when sending a letter or recording a phone call from the Intervention List.  On upgrade, by default, these automatically created encounters will not be set as qualified encounters as they are configured to use the AUTO short code, which is not set as a Qualified Encounter.  ::Image[]{src="https://api.qa.archbee.co/api/optimize/zICxj0dnLereb6UUrBA3-/5Jft_z5Mr47H1bzO9gXpu_aeu1do5umxkb0bw1dc7tfaeupiumr08nhq.png" size="97" isUploading="false" initialPath="assets/Aeu1DO5UMxKB0bW1DC7TfAEUpiUmr08NhQ.png" githubPath="en/Patient Records and Management/Patient Records - New Zealand/assets/Aeu1DO5UMxKB0bW1DC7TfAEUpiUmr08NhQ.png" position="flex-start" showCaption="false"} If you believe that any of the automatically created encounters should be considered "Qualified Encounters", you can can change their default type in **Clinical Preferences/Auto Encounters** tab. These preferences are not global, but specific to an individual or role – depending on your organisation. # Learn More If you have any questions, please contact our support team at [help@intrahealth.com](mailto\:help@intrahealth.com).  For more information on the National Enrolment System,please click on the article links below: - [NHI NES Set Up Process](docId:4A3_YWbNlSC3tw-5gozjZ) - [National Enrolment Services (NES) Configuration](docId\:Bz17fRfWgQ8tVRcVYrGNn) - [Using National Health Index (NHI) and National Enrolment Services (NES)](docId\:C4UPREgYBegOl_QU61NT7)